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Thursday, May 11, 2017

24 Hour Shorts Fest Info!

Hello, Theatre Society-ers!

As the date is May 11, we officially have NINE days before our 24 Hour Shorts Fest. As our writers and Marshall have gotten the ball rolling on it, it's time to send that ball barreling full speed down the side of this cliff. Before we dive into this, a quick reminder to anyone that has yet to sign up to tech the show or to act in it, sign up sheets are on the whiteboard in the drama room and you must sign up ASAP to be included. First draft scripts have been written for our five shows and they will be performed as well as a bit of improv in between.

If you've been an active member of improv and haven't yet made it known to Marshall that you want to do improv, please do that and ensure that you're coming to Thursday meetings (also to prep for Civil War [May 26, tell your pals] but we'll talk about that later).

SO LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS.

There's a lot of info to get through here, but this is the current plan we have for the entire day.

General Itinerary for Everyone

7:00 am - All participants meet in the drama room.

7:30 am - Crews start work, actors start rehearsals.

9:30 am - Directors must have all revisions to tech needs given to tech crews

11:00 am - Show 1 goes into tech onstage

12:00 pm - Show 2 goes into tech onstage

1:00 pm - Show 3 goes into tech onstage

2:00 pm - Show 4 goes into tech onstage

3:00 pm - Show 5 goes into tech onstage

4:00 pm - Do a full run through of the entire show

5:00 pm - Dinner (provided by our wonderful Boosters

7:00 pm - Showtime

Directors

Our directors for these shows will be:

Rebecca Strom

Hannah Mohlman

Alex Bayer

Amanda Bertrand

Katie Anderson

Directors need to get their scripts from Marshall on Thursday after school. They should be read thoroughly and [very] flexibly cast given the list of actors we have. Before we all meet on the 20th, directors need to have a fairly clear vision and plan, as well as a list of necessary props and set pieces. For the sake of our tech crews and the little time they will be given, please be flexible in all technical decisions you make prior to the day. You will meet again Friday after school to discuss casting.

Actors

Acting decisions will be made by directors Friday and scripts and roles will be assigned at 7pm Friday night. Every actor needs to start memorizing their script the moment they have it. Memorization will be undoubtedly a great challenge for every actor. I don't care if you memorized a monologue moments before an audition that one time, or that you're great at improv-ing when you forget a line onstage, you have 24 hours to get your script and know your part and every single person working on this is counting on you to be working tirelessly on memorization. That being said, be flexible on the 20th to change up how you may have learned something the night before.

Tech

The first time you will be required to do anything is at the beginning of the day on the 20th. Show up bright eyed and bushy tailed to make these shows the best they can be. For this event, we need you guys to be creative, flexible, and more than anything, team players. Work patiently with your fellow crew members, with other crews, with directors, and with actors. You will be given all the information you need that morning.

General Vital Information

We are only providing dinner and small snacks in the morning, so eat a good, filling breakfast and bring a lunch. There will be enough insanity without your hangriness.

Get a good night's sleep Friday. We're meeting early and working hard.

Anyone who has drafts of the scripts, do NOT share them under any circumstances. Don't give summaries to anyone, don't read anything to anyone, don't talk about the specifics of the shows. In order to maintain the integrity of this project, we will give people scripts when they need them.

PUBLICIZE PUBLICIZE PUBLICIZE. We need to build up an audience! Talk to your friends, tell your classes about it, bring enthusiasm to every conversation about it. Tell people to follow @jhstheatresociety on Insta for info, ask teachers if you can write the show info on the board, talk to your family about coming and supporting you and the arts and just talk about it. You guys getting others excited about this show is such a vital part of our success.

It's a lot to plan for, but this project has to be so intricate and a little bit insane. This is the first time we've ever done this or attempted to pull off anything as crazy as this, and flexibility has been a common theme throughout this email because it's going to be vital. Please be okay with plans changing, with things not going exactly as you envisioned them. Perhaps this goes without saying, but bring positive energy and excitement to this project! Pulling this off would be an extraordinary feat to complete together, and an amazing last hurrah for 2016-17 Theatre Society. We're used to three months of work together before something goes onstage, but we need every single participant to give it their all for just one day.

Can't wait to see you guys on the 20th!

(PS. If you did not get this information in an email, email jacksonhstheatresociety@gmail.com to sign up for those! If you signed up for acting/tech and didn't get an email, it may be because it was hard to read on the signups. In that case, also email the theatre account to get that fixed.)